Read “Tourism” by Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal over last few days and liked it so much I wanted to give it to O yesterday in London, but we ended up missing each other due to colossal train ineptitude.

I don’t think I’ve read a novel by a British Sikh before. This particular chap observes people and situations wonderfully acutely – uncompromising but with humour – a fascinating insight into how we (i.e. the white English middle class) are viewed by some people from other ethnic backgrounds.

Especially our secularism, individualism and desire to prolong our adolescence indefinitely to avoid ‘settling down’, at the same time as we’re all desperately trying to find ‘the one’… presumably to settle down with.

He’s also pretty unusual in his take on the ‘urban poor whites/white trash’ and Black British communities after 9/11.

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O and N are having real trouble with J at the moment. Long phone call the other night. O is really down. I never know in those situations whether it would be best just to listen and let the person download their frustrations and concerns, or whether they actually want practical advice on how to stop the problem.